Astronomy Picture for Today (meteor shower peak this weekend)

nasa ^ | 08/11/2006 | dg

[HOTTIEBOY]

Every year at this time the Earth passes thruogh the dust tail left by commet Swift-Tuttle. The reasult is the anual Perseid meteor shower.


Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes

Most of the particles are no bigger than a grain of sand.They enter the atmosphere at altitudes above 70 miles or so, and light up the sky as they streak through the atmosphere at over 140,000 miles per hour instantly vaprizing and ionizing the atoms along its path.



Viewers in dark location can expect to see 60 or more "falling stars" this weekend. The Pereid shower got its name because the shower seems to come from the constilation Perseus.


Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College)

Dark skies are favored for viewing meteor showers -- so many are pessimistic about this year's Perseids. While the Perseid meteor shower is scheduled to peak this weekend, bright light from an almost full Moon will also flood the night and mask the majority of relatively faint meteors. Still, skygazing in the evening before the Moon rises (before about 10 PM local time) could reveal spectacular earthgrazing meteors. Persisting even later into the moonlit night can reward northern hemisphere watchers looking for occasional Perseid fireballs. In fact, astronomer Jimmy Westlake imaged this bright Perseid meteor despite the combination of moonlight and auroral glow over Colorado skies in August of 2000.

[HOTTIEBOY]

apod ping

[AFreeBird]

That last pic is awesome!

[RightWhale]

These meteors are very fast and usually burn blue-white to white.

[najida]

I love the one that looks like a spear!

[HOTTIEBOY]

The middle pic is a true color pic.

The initial green color is thought to be the glow from oxygen in the atmosphere at altitudes above 100 kilometers or so, while sodium atoms and other constituents of the cometary dust grain itself contribute to the orange hues.

[Toby06]

Thanks for the reminder! I hope i am somewhere far enough away from the city lights to see it!

[La Enchiladita]

Thanks, HottieBoy. I love the Perseids. Too bad I'm not out in the desert this year ... but, maybe I can get there over the weekend...

[HOTTIEBOY]

this may be a special treat for the younguns on your camping trip.

[RightWhale]

I have pretty good color vision, but I have never seen anything but white trails from this shower. The aurora picture below looks realistic in color, although the red is usually more red when there is red at all.

[HOTTIEBOY]

CORRECTION!!!!

That is supposed to read: 60 or more meteors per hour.

[HOTTIEBOY]

I am sure it is long exposure time.

Being in North Carolina, I very rarely see auroras this far south.

Unless, like a few years back, we have intense solar activity with alot of flairs.

[RightWhale]

The red auroras are rare, but when the aurora is energetic, which is also when it moves farther south, it often has considerable red. The nightly aurors we see in Fairbanks are usually simply pale green. I saw an orange one once that looked like a McDonald's arch and it was nearly stationary for a couple hours. It was 40 below then, but I watched it the whole time. No camera unfortunately.

[Lucky9teen]

Cool beans. I love meteor showers.

[Gabz]

My husband just asked me if I knew what quadrant of the sky to look toward...........since i have no idea, I thought I would ask you. We're on the Atlantic coast near the VA/MD state line........

[leda]

very cool! hope we can see some, though
we are not way out in the country.

[Roccus]

Pretty much out of the NE but the moon, I'm afraid, is gonna make it a wash.

[Gabz]

Thank you so much........my husband actually just asked me if I had gotten an answer.

But I do agree with you that the moon is going to put a huge damper on it.

Thanks again.

[Roccus]

Just get a lounge chair, foot toward the NE, hubby and some adult beverages or sweet tea and Horsts "The Planets" lay back and enjoy!

[Gabz]

LOL!!!!!

We'll be doing it from the upstairs deck, otherwise the treeline and streetlight will get in the way........let alone the danged bugs.